Chapter 60 Entering the Cui Family Manor Once Again

Fei Qian could wail internally all he wanted, but he couldn't just turn on his heel and leave without any homework to hand in. Doing so would not only be discourteous but also cause others to look down upon him, so he still had to bite the bullet and go see Cai Yan.

Women in the Han dynasty were not bound by those suffocating and lethal rules of the later Ming and Qing dynasties; their lives were relatively free. The so-called rules stating that guarding against men and women is more difficult than guarding against rivers only arose during the Song dynasty, were popularized by Zhu Xi, and reached their absolute peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The famous official Hai Rui, because his own young daughter accepted a piece of pastry from a male servant, went so far as to proclaim: "How can a daughter casually accept food from a servant? She is no longer my daughter. If she starves to death right now, she will truly be worthy of being my daughter." Later on, Hai Rui's daughter wept incessantly, refused to eat, and literally starved to death seven days later! The most crucial part was that Hai Rui's daughter was only five years old at the time...

Those pedantic scholars, especially comrade Zhu Xi, put on a self-righteous and dignified facade on the surface, but in private they practiced a completely different set of standards, bearing quite a resemblance to people of later generations...

Old Master Zhu Xi had two notorious scandals recorded in history. One was that when old man Zhu Xi was over sixty years old, he took a concubine. Taking a concubine wasn't the problem; the problem was that this concubine used to be a teenage Buddhist nun. Zhu Xi, experiencing his N-th spring of recovered vitality and unable to suppress the surging temptation of uniform fetishism within his heart, forcefully snatched her away from right in front of the Buddha... There was another incident involving his daughter-in-law, who had been a young widow living in the inner quarters for years and never seeing any male visitors, yet suddenly broke the shocking and joyous news that she was pregnant...

After these two affairs of Zhu Xi were exposed, even the reigning Emperor Ningzong of Song, Zhao Kuo, was utterly shocked. Zhu Xi had once lectured for Emperor Ningzong, so Emperor Ningzong could be considered Zhu Xi's disciple. Seeing his revered teacher exposed, Emperor Ningzong, with a complex mix of emotions, personally questioned Zhu Xi whether these things were true or not. Zhu Xi's reply was ambiguous and evasive; he acknowledged that his own teachings were "false learning," while making a deep self-examination: "Deeply reflecting on yesterday's wrongs, carefully seeking today's rights..."

Therefore, if one were to time-travel as a woman, it is best to choose the Han or Tang dynasties, which were relatively safe. Otherwise, in later dynasties, one must beware of pig cages and wooden donkeys...

Fei Qian met Cai Yan in the study. Cai Yan was transcribing books as usual, and upon seeing Fei Qian arrive, she laid down her brush.

Cai Yan's calligraphy was inherited from Cai Yong; it could be said that her handwriting reflected her character—dignified, majestic, and bold. Because she was copying texts, she used formal clerical script, with every single stroke strong in bone and full of vitality and charm. Compared to Fei Qian's calligraphy, which had form but no spirit, hers was vastly superior by an immeasurable realm.

Cai Yan tucked away a few strands of dark hair that had fallen loose as she lowered her head, revealing a faint, gentle smile as she asked, "How many books on the reading list have you finished?"

Fei Qian bit the bullet and replied, "To be frank with Senior Sister, I haven't read a single one..."

"And you haven't practiced your handwriting by copying model scripts either?"

"......Yes."

Cai Yan's dark, bright eyes widened slightly, and she said, "Learning must never cease."

Fei Qian lowered his head, cupped his hands, and said, "I have received your instruction, but these past few days have truly been too busy..."

A thought flashed through Fei Qian's mind: perhaps he could get Cai Yan to help persuade Cai Yong. If they could move away from Luoyang, father and daughter might avoid experiencing such a tragic fate in the future.

***

Thus, Fei Qian selected a few events that had occurred over the past few days and recounted them to Cai Yan. Cai Yan clearly rarely went out and had not heard of these matters. She listened quietly as Fei Qian spoke until he finally mentioned the affair of Chong'er, at which point Cai Yan nodded slightly, as if acknowledging that Fei Qian's words held a measure of reason.

Cai Yan suddenly sighed and said in a low voice, "Ancient times had the literary thief Dong, and today we have the martial thief Dong. This truly is..."

"The martial thief Dong"—Fei Qian knew this referred to Dong Li Zhuo using military force to usurp the authority of the imperial court and forcing Liu Bian to abdicate, but who was this "literary thief Dong" referring to?

"The literary thief Dong, you ask? Junior Brother, go back and carefully study the *Book of Han*. If you fail to hand in your homework next time..." Cai Yan smiled with a hint of slyness, refusing to explain clearly, and simply sent Fei Qian away, telling him to return and study his books diligently.

Could life still be played with pleasantly like this? There was no need to bully people this way; wasn't it just that she read more books than him and understood more than he did?

Master Cai Yong at least answered every question put to him—why couldn't you, Cai Yan, emulate your father's demeanor? Ha...

And on top of that, homework had to be handed in...

Emerging from the Cai residence, Fei Qian saw that the sky was still early and decided to make a detour to visit the Cui family. Ever since the recent Mount Beimang incident, it had been quite a while since he last visited. Besides, the Cui family possessed a certain commercial network, and learning about the conditions of the surrounding prefectures and commanderies from them would be beneficial.

So Fei Qian turned his horse and headed towards the northern part of the city. Along the way, he noticed that the pedestrians on the streets looked hurried, with expressions mostly of fear and panic, lacking their previous composure and ease. In his heart, he could not help but sigh lightly. These commoners, treated like mere ants by the aristocratic clans and court nobility, were also affected by the upheaval in the imperial court, beginning to feel tense and unsettled. Yet who could know that the future would be even more terrifying...

Upon arriving at the Cui family estate, Cui Hou personally came out to welcome him.

After meeting, Fei Qian inquired about Cui Yi's physical condition, and Cui Hou shook his head with a gloomy expression.

In later generations, when Fei Qian fell ill, he only knew how to buy some medicine himself, and going to the hospital was always a last resort—mostly because it was too expensive. Therefore, he truly did not understand medicine, possessing only a somewhat broader range of general knowledge.

Old folks usually needed to keep their minds calm and peaceful, and the worst thing for them was experiencing great joy or extreme anger; otherwise, the cerebral blood vessels they had used for many years were easily damaged, commonly known as a stroke. What Cui Hou described of Cui Yi's condition sounded somewhat like a stroke, but even in later generations, there were no miraculous or effective ways to treat this disease, so essentially in the Han dynasty, it fell into the category of being completely helpless.

Perhaps miraculous physicians Hua Tuo or Zhang Zhongjing would have a way, but unfortunately, neither of them was in Luoyang, and he couldn't find them even if he wanted to.

Cui Hou understood this in his heart as well, so he didn't dwell on it much. After speaking briefly, he had the master craftsmen of the household present one by one the glassware they had developed according to Fei Qian's formula.

***

One had to admit that the wisdom of the ancients exceeded Fei Qian's imagination. Relying merely on Fei Qian's not-very-precise formula, the craftsmen were able to continuously experiment and adjust until the finished products they brought out now were almost identical to some of the glassware Fei Qian had seen in later generations. The only limitation was that the carving techniques and shapes were restricted by the craftsmen's vision and experience, making them not quite as rich and varied as those of later times.

Fei Qian clicked his tongue in praise, genuinely filled with admiration.

Glassware was immensely profitable, but after all, it was not something ordinary commoners could afford. Therefore, Cui Hou only sold the very best pieces, but even so, he made a massive fortune. Exclusive monopolistic business had always been synonymous with wealth.

Now that Fei Qian had successfully transformed into a disciple of two great scholars, Cui Hou treated him with even greater respect. He set aside a portion of the profits from the glassware and insisted on sharing it with Fei Qian.

Fei Qian knew very well that this share of the profits could also be considered an investment by Cui Hou in his future, but there was no need to refuse. After all, if someone was willing to invest, it meant he still had investment value, didn't it?

However, accepting money directly would appear somewhat low-class, so Fei Qian said, "Yellow and white gold is not urgent; this junior actually has a rather troublesome matter at hand."

"Please let me hear the details. If this elder brother can be of any help, I am naturally duty-bound."

Fei Qian said, "This junior has lived in Luoyang for a long time and is not very familiar with the regions of Sili, Yuzhou, Jizhou, and Jingsi. I wonder if Brother Yuanyuan has any information regarding these areas?"

Cui Hou deliberated for a moment and said, "If it's just superficial figures and regional geographies, this elder brother does know a thing or two, though I don't know if it will satisfy my younger brother." With that, he called a servant to retrieve a thin booklet from the study and handed it to Fei Qian.

Curious, Fei Qian took it and looked inside, only to be utterly shocked!

Such a thing actually existed in the Eastern Han dynasty!